Lies
by DemonHuntress
Summary: The Three Lights are back, but someone hasn't been telling the whole truth. T/A, Y/M, S/U. Beware of Three Lighting OOCness.


Lies

By: DemonHuntress

Disclaimer: I can't even pretend to own Sailor Moon

Rating: PG-13

Summary: The Starlights return, but someone hasn't been telling the whole truth. (brunette)T/A, (white hair)Y/M, (black hair)S/U

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Major Starlight OOCness. I don't know how they're supposed to act.

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'Lying is such a . . . harsh term,' Ami finally concluded as she walked down the street, oblivious to all that was going on around her. She stared off at the ground ahead of her as she loosely held her book across her chest. The wind played with her sweater and skirt, whipping them around her before settling back down again. 'It's more like I've been neglecting to tell them everything. I mean, it's not signed in blood that I have to. So failing to mention this shouldn't be too bad.' But no matter what she told herself, she still had a sinking feeling about it.

She was on her way to the shrine for another senshi reunion. They had them every once in a while, just to get the group back together. After she had moved to Germany to go to medical school, Makoto left for France to improve her cooking, and Minako spent half her time in England get-togethers were just about impossible. So every half a year or so they had a reunion at Makoto's or Rei's. But this was a reunion where a lot was going to change. Following behind her were three shadowy figures each tucked away in his own patch of darkness as they tailed the petite genius. Ami knew they were there, she had told them to come with her, but when the other girls saw them they were going to freak. Especially Minako. The bubbly, self-proclaimed Goddess of Love hadn't been herself ever since he left. But now . . . 

With another deep sigh, Ami turned the final corner and onto the block that held the Cherry Hill Shrine. The other girls were already there she suspected. Rei of course, then Makoto would be the second to arrive, prompt as always. Usagi would have blown through the door like a blonde whirlwind, panting and gasping out apologies for being so late. Then Minako would trudge in, head hung as she took her seat in the corner. Usually Ami was the second or third to arrive but this time she was late. Very late. And with a very good reason.

"AMI-CHAN!"

The combined yell from Usagi and Makoto assaulted her ears as soon as she stepped in the door and was tackled from two directions. Both of her old friends embraced her warmly, smiles covering their faces. Rei stood in a corner, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips, and Minako sat on the floor, hugging her legs to her chest. "Gomen nasi for not being on time, minna, my plane was delayed and the traffic was just horrible coming down. I didn't mean to be so tardy."

Usagi just grinned at her. "It's ok, Ami-chan! I'm always late!"

She returned the smile to her oldest friend. "Arigato, Usagi-hime."

The future princess blew a breath of exasperation. "I've told you not to call me that. I'm not royalty yet."

"Gomen."

"You say that so much, Ami-chan! Come on in, sit down. We're about to start."

But Ami still stood in the doorway, for once loosing her eloquent speech as she fished for words. "Um, well, I actually have something to tell you guys," she finally managed to say, "I brought some people with me. And I thought, well." She shrugged and finally decided the direct approach was the best, turning around to face the empty front yard. "I think you can come out guys."

Or maybe the not-so-empty yard each of the other girls realized as three tall figures materialized on the lawn. The tallest of the group was the first to approach, his jet black hair cut close to his ears. He shrugged and grinned as he waved at the girls, winking at the future princess in particular. Usagi's jaw hit the floor and for a few moments her mouth wouldn't work. When she did find her voice again, it was hushed and whispered. "Seiya-kun?"

He did a mock bow and winked again. "At your service, Odango Amata."

Her brow furrowed in frustration. "I ~told~ you not to call me that!"

Walking towards her, he reached out and ruffled her hair slightly before taking her by the arm. "I've got something to tell you," he whispered as he leaned down by her ear. Nodding slowly and speechless, Usagi followed him into a side room. The others knew not to follow.

Minako sat still in the corner, refusing to get her hopes up. She hadn't looked at the newcomers, didn't know how many they were, and she didn't want to have her heart broken again. So head bowed she kept her face buried in her arms as her hair washed over her in waves of gold. Her self-induced seclusion was broken by a voice. "Minako-san?"

She looked up into a pair of eyes she'd thought she'd never see again. "Yaten-kun?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. I came back." He sat beside her still smiling and his good mood reflected back onto her, forcing a grin to the corners of her lips. They sat in silence for a little while, not caring that all eyes in the room were on them. Minako cared even less when Yaten put his arm around her waist and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Neither paid any attention to the faint gasp of surprise that came up from their audience.

"I'd have to say this went pretty well, eh, Ames?"

Ami nearly hit her head on the ceiling she jumped so high as a pair of arms snaked themselves around her waist. She calmed down when she recognized the voice. "Hai," she replied, taking a small step backwards so that her back rested against his chest, "I'd have to say it went very well." She grinned as she heard him chuckle and rest his chin in her hair.

"That's all we wanted, iie?"

"What was it you wanted to tell me, Seiya-kun?" Usagi asked as soon as they were alone.

Seiya dropped his head a bit and she could have sworn he blushed. "I really don't know how to tell you this, Odango--gomen, Usagi-hime--" His speech was cut short as he interrupted himself with silence to think about how he wanted to phrase this now that he could. "I-I've loved you for a long time, is I guess what I wanted to say. I just-I just wanted you to know that, even though you're still with Mamoru."

And for the second time in her life Usagi didn't know what to say. She stammered for a few moments before finally spitting something out. "Arigato, I guess," she told him, "Demo, Mamoru and I broke up over a year ago. It wasn't working out for either of us and we couldn't force it." Her face darkened, then brightened again a few seconds later. "But Chibi-Usa's still here!" she said excitedly.

"How?" The word came out harsher than he would have liked, he was just shocked about the whole thing.

She shrugged. "You'd have to ask Ami, I've never known." She was silent for a few moments, biting her lip in confusion. "I really don't know what I felt for Mamoru and I know you would hate to be compared to him but . . . I feel the same way about you as I did about him. If that was love then, well, I guess, aishetiru, Seiya-chan."

His eyes danced, it was the best he was ever going to get from his Odango Amata. "Aishetiru, Usagi-chan," he whispered just before sweeping her into a kiss like none other she'd ever gotten in a past, present, or future life.

Minako smiled again. "I'm glad your back, Yaten-kun," she told him softly.

"I'm glad I'm back."

"I'm glad you're glad you're back."

"I'm glad you're glad I'm glad I'm back."

"I'm glad you're glad I-"

"Enough!" Makoto exploded, "Yaten-kun, just tell her you love her and get on with it! She's waited four years for it."

There was absolute silence as both Minako and Yaten slowly turned tomato red, blushing to the roots of their hair. It was not a very appealing look on either. Yaten opened his mouth several times before anything would come out, trying not to look at Minako who watched him with expectance written on her face. "Well, I, what I wanted to say was, well, that, um, jeez, I, oh damn." His eyes went wide as he saw her face fall. "No, no, no, I didn't mean it like that, I meant that. Aw, what the hell, Minako-chan, I love you."

It was her turn to been stunned speechless. Then a grin spread rapidly across her face and she threw her arms around his neck, heedless of their audience. "I love you too!" she almost squealed. Everyone was relieved to have the old Minako back but Yaten was at a loss for what to do. He couldn't kiss her in front of all her friends . . . could he? He opted for a small, brief kiss, the barest touch to her mouth, then let his lips linger by her ear.

"Later." A whispered promise she hung on to.

Ami sighed with happiness as she watched Minako reunited with her love, then let her smile grow when she saw Usagi and Seiya walk back into the room hand in hand. Makoto had hearts in her eyes from the pure sweet romance of it all and Rei was grinning like an idiot at seeing her friends so happy. Ami was not so excited, however, when all eyes turned to her.

Rei advanced on her slowly. "So Ami-chan," she asked, dragging her name out, "How did you know about all this?"

"Yeah," Usagi echoed, "How ~did~ you? I mean, unless you kept in contact with Taiki or something . . . or did you?"

They all watched as Ami blushed furiously, unconsciously burying herself deeper in Taiki's arms. He wasn't complaining. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and grabbed at his hands. "I did keep in touch with him, actually," she admitted, "Do you guys want the whole story?" There were nods from all across the room. She drew a deep breath and related the tale from where it began. At the departure.

~Flashback~

Taiki had almost finished packing his suitcase when the knock came. Puzzled, he dropped the shirt he was holding onto the bed and walked over to the door, looking through the peephole to the person on the other side. To his surprise, it wasn't Yaten complaining about losing his key again. Instead it was one Miss Mizuno Ami, staring nervously down at the floor and holding something to herself. Slightly confused, he opened the door and gestured for her to come in. "To what do I owe this surprise, Mizuno-san?"

Ami looked down at her hands, then held them out to him. Resting on her palms was a small, black rectangle he almost recognized. It closely resembled her own mini data computer. "I made this, Taiki-kun," she told him, "It's the closest thing to a digital library we have here on Earth. I hoped it could help you learn more about us and other things."

To her surprise, he took it, looking it over several times before slipping it into a pocket. "Arigato, Mizuno-san. I will have to look into it sometime soon." He stepped further inside and sat down on a couch, motioning for her to sit as well. She took a seat across from him. "I have been thinking about that conversation we had not long ago."

"About peace, love, and the Earth?" she asked quickly.

He nodded. "I see that it has been on your mind as well." Ami blushed, but agreed. Taiki drew a deep breath, he was here going to admit one of the few things he'd prided himself on never having to admit before. "I was wrong," he told her abruptly, cutting his confession to as little words as possible, "I've been thinking about it and come to the conclusion that I was wrong."

The look she gave him was interested on the side of confused. "How so?"

"I-" he stopped for a few seconds before continuing on, "I've decided that peace and love, they can exist. And Earthlings are not fools. Not all of them." He corrected himself quickly and she rushed to hide a quick grin. Suddenly, he straightened. "I am forgetting my manners. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

She shook her head quickly, making as if to stand up. "I just came by to give that to you, I have a computer class I must be getting to. Your apartment was just on the way. I'm afraid I must be going." Walking briskly she made her way to the door, but Taiki beat her to it.

Leaning with one hand against the woodwork, he grinned at her with kind amusement in his eyes. "I understand but before you leave, Mizuno-san . . . I always feel that I should repay a favor. And you gave me such a lovely gift." While Ami might not have understood what his words meant, she certainly got the gist of his actions when he bent down a few inches and kissed her firmly on the lips. She was too surprised to pull back and just stood there with her eyes open wide until he lifted his head once more. Then with an extravagant bow he opened the door for her and smiled. "Keep in touch, Mizuno-san!"

She turned as she walked down the hall. "H-hai, Taiki-kun, I shall." Waving one last time, Ami disappeared down the hall blushing madly.

~End Flashback~

By the time Ami finished with her story she was cherry red but had not stepped out of Taiki's arms. Makoto was no longer the only one with hearts in her eyes, she had been joined by not just Usagi but Minako as well who was back to her old bubbly self as quickly as if someone had hit a switch. "So he told you he was coming back and bringing the others with him?" Rei asked.

This time it was Taiki who answered the question. "I've been back for a while. They just arrived yesterday."

Jaws fell open all across the room. "Ami-chan?" Usagi asked, her voice filled with disbelief, "How?"

The girl in question shrugged and grinned in the same motion. "He showed up at my apartment two years ago asking if he could sleep on my couch until he got a job and a place of his own," she explained, describing in the simplest form possible the way things had gone. But Taiki wasn't content just to give a summary.

"After a few weeks I realized that I didn't want to leave and she realized that she didn't want me to leave. So we pooled money, I picked up some of my share of what I made as one of the Three Lights, and bought a new, two-bedroom apartment. She's kept up with medical school and I'm working finances for a near-by law firm. We gave up our position as Starlights about the time you girls gave up being senshi. We're all male on a permanent basis now, which is nice. The whole arrangement's worked out really well."

Makoto grinned slyly. "So you've been living together?" she asked lewdly.

Ami tuned purple. "Not like that!" she insisted, trying her hardest to bring attention to the ring she wore. No one noticed.

But Taiki again had to ruin it, leaning down to whisper in her ear loud enough for everyone else to hear, "Yes like that." Although he was blushing, it wasn't nearly as bad as the girl he held in his arms. A collective gasp went up from the surrounding crowd, no one having expected this from their innocent little Ami, and she just buried herself further against Taiki as if trying to escape from it all.

Luckily Setsuna provided an opportune distraction. She appeared in her usual style, preceded by the portal she always used to travel. She was suited up in full senshi gear and the girls immediately thought they were up for another battle. They were all relieved to find that they were wrong, and shocked at the confession from the Time Guardian.

"I have to say that I've been, well, lying to you," she told them, for once unsure of herself, "Mamoru ~wasn't~ the king in the Silver Millennium and isn't king in Crystal Tokyo." A collective gasp went up and they all got a weird feeling of deja vu. "Usagi-hime, I saw that you initially loved Mamoru in this time and I wanted you to be happy so I said that you were destined for each other. But you're not. That's why Small Lady is still around."

Usagi asked the question on everyone's mind. "Then who ~am~ I destined for?"

Setsuna merely smiled. "I made that mistake once. I'm going to let you figure it out." The future princess almost started to whine about how unfair it was but for once held her tongue and said nothing, only bringing another smile to the elder senshi's face. "But I will tell you this," she continued, speaking to the group now, "As in the future Mamoru is one of the princess' bodyguards, it is only fitting that he find another guardian to love for the rest of his immortal life." Rei grinned and her eyes sparkled.

Makoto was the one to whine now. "So they're all paired up, who do I get?"

"I'm sure he'll tell you in time."

There was a slight cough from the ground where the cats had been forgotten. Artemis grinned as sheepishly as a cat could and then suddenly took on human form once more, letting his long white hair cover his red face. "I, um, well. Truth is, I wasn't ~really~ stuck as a cat. I just didn't know what to say, but I guess, um, Makoto-san, I remember us in the Silver Millennium and you loved-"

"A CAT!" she screeched in disbelief. Artemis' face fell and she took another good look at him. "But you know," she continued, a smile playing on her lips, "You are kinda cute." She grinned broadly, glomping onto him. "Okay then!" There were a few groans, but most were grateful that she had finally found a boyfriend. And amazingly enough, one taller than herself. In the period of shock, Setsuna made her exit.

So they had all found each other once more, Rei was just upset that Mamoru wasn't there at that very moment. But it was ok, she could find him once everyone left. Usagi was the first to go, walking hand in hand with Seiya and an unhappy Luna on her shoulders. They were followed closely by Yaten and Minako who had their arms around each other and were smiling. Playfully shoving each other around Makoto and Artemis made their exit. Ami and Taiki weren't far behind them, so wrapped up in each other they never realized that they had forgotten to announce their engagement. As soon as they were all gone Rei dusted off her clothes and ran off to find the love of her life. All of Tokyo pitied Mamoru.

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no, i am not a rei hater, i just had to give her some grief. the one i really hate is usagi, but you couldn't tell. i had so much fun with pairing makoto with artemis. think about it, if the starlights come back and rei gets mamoru, who's makoto gonna get? so i answered the question as best i could. review if you liked it, review if you didn't!


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